


Roar

by CrzyFun



Series: Cat of a Different Color [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cat Puns, Episode: s01e01 Rise of the Voltron, Genderfluid Character, Other, Trans Character, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Trans Keith (Voltron), genderfluid blue lion, the lions are cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:44:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9692177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzyFun/pseuds/CrzyFun
Summary: Lance met them while surfing just off the coast of Cuba. Hunk met him while helping out at his mothers' restaurant. Pidge met her while solving puzzles with her brother. Shiro met him after leading his soccer team to victory. Keith... Well, Keith had always known her.Which is why he was completely unsurprised to find out the cats were more than they seemed.





	1. Looking For Mew

High above the skies of earth, far into the stars that surrounded it, an empire celebrated as they conquered yet another planet. Meanwhile, deep in a cave on earth, hidden away in one of the planet’s deserts, four pairs of eyes opened. The yellow orbs met one another, then their owners darted off in different directions.

* * *

A short ways off the coast of Cuba, an eight-year-old boy laughed as he watched his cousin fall off her surfboard. He teased the girl before turning to catch his own wave.

He promptly jumped and toppled off his board.

“What the-” he sputtered as he breached the surface. The threw his arms over the board to help him stay up and stared at the cat perched on the nose. He looked around. “How… Where did you come from?”

As if to answer his question, the cat lifted its paw and licked a bit of water off its fur.

“¿Estás bien, primo?” the boy’s cousin asked as she paddled up to him. Her eyes widened when she saw the cat. “¡Es un gatito! Where from?”

“No lo sé. It just showed up.” He pulled himself back up and onto his board.

The cat’s tail twitched, but otherwise it didn't react as its perch rocked and dipped. With his new position, the boy could see that the animal was almost pure white except for the blue-black patches on the top of its head and tail.

It's golden eyes met his own and he found himself reaching towards it.

“¡Podría ser peligroso! ¡Ten cuidado, Lance!” his cousin warned, grabbing his arm.

Lance frowned, but when he looked back at the cat, he felt a warmth blossom through him. “No, it's fine.” He reached out his other hand and cupped the cat’s face. It immediately purred and nuzzled the hand. “See.”

His cousin was still frowning, but she let him go and pulled away.

Lance’s eyes darted up as he saw a wave coming towards them. “Well, I hope you can surf, Blue,” he chuckled as he began paddling.

When the two returned to Lance’s aunt’s house after surfing, he was carrying a sleeping Blue in his arms as his cousin carried the boards. She had done pretty well, though there might have been a few extra scratches on the nose.

“Mama, look!” Lance shouted, catching the attention of both the two women on the porch and the small herd of children in the yard.

Shouts of “Gatito” and “Kitty” sounded out as Lance’s younger siblings and cousins raced over. Blue was awake instantly, hopping down to bask in the children's attention. As Lance made sure the younger kids didn't pull on her fur, his older cousin went over to explain to the women.

“Can we keep her, Mama?” Lance asked and his mother and her cousin soon found themselves surrounded by puppy dog eyes.

* * *

The end of summer found Lance sitting on the porch, watching as his father packed their luggage into the car. He stroked Blue’s ears and sniffled. “Sorry you can't come with us, Blue. Mama said it'd be too difficult getting you into the States.”

“Mew.”

Lance pulled a blue scarf out of his pocket and tied it around her neck. “Sonia will take good care of you though, and I'll see you next summer, okay!”

“Mew.”

“Lance, time to go!”

Lance pressed a kiss to the top of the cat’s head. “Bye Blue.”

He ran off quickly, scrubbing at the tears on his cheeks.

A week later, the nine-year-old froze only a step into his backyard as he caught sight of a white and blue-black cat wearing a blue scarf sitting next to their pond, swatting casually at the fish inside.

“Blue?”

The cat’s ear twitched and she looked up at him.

Lance squealed and ran over to flop down next to her.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” his mother asked, peeking out of the house. Her eyes widened when Lance held up Blue.

“Mama, look who showed up!”

* * *

Honestly, considering his past, Lance wasn't as surprised as most would have been to open up his suitcase to find his cat napping amongst his clothes when she should have been thousands of miles away at home.

“Blue!” the fourteen-year-old groaned.

His eyes widened as he heard the door to his Garrison barrack opening and quickly dropped the lid to his suitcase and spun around.

* * *

“Hissss!”

At the sound of distress, the nine-year-old boy who had been carrying out the trash paused and looked around. He walked around the corner to see a pair of dogs growling at a crate. The boy could just see a pair of golden eyes peeking through the slats.

“Mewl.”

“Hey, leave them alone!” the boy shouted, waving the trash bag at the dogs. The bag clipped one of them on the snout when they turned to him and they took off.

He set down the bag and knelt down next to the crate. “Hey there, it's okay. You're safe now.” He lifted up the crate a little and peeked underneath. It was silent for a moment then a nose poked out.

The boy pulled back as the crate tipped over and a large cat shuffled forward. It shook the dust off its cream and gold fur and met his eyes.

“Hunk? Where are you?”

“Over here, mom,” Hunk called out, scratching the cat under its chin. He stood up and grabbed the bag. “You wanna come with me?”

The cat stepped forward and nuzzled his leg.

“Alright. Mom’s been wanting a cat. I bet she’ll love you.”

* * *

“Sh, Pua, hold still,” Hunk whispered. The fourteen-year-old sighed in relief when he finally reached his barrack. He pulled open the door, then froze when he spotted a Latino boy standing next to one of the two beds in the room.

“H-hey, roommate!” the Latino stuttered.

“Roommate? I thought we got separate rooms,” Hunk whimpered.

“No, you needed to put in a request for those rooms.”

_Oh man, I messed up! I'm going to get kicked out before classes even start!_ Hunk thought. He scrambled for something to say, some way to get out of the situation.

“Um, are you okay, dude?” the other boy asked and Hunk realized Pua had begun squirming again. He could only imagine how weird that would look for the other boy.

“Purr.”

Hunk blushed as he felt something fluffy pop up through his collar and nuzzle his chin.

The Latino’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything a shuffling noise sounded behind him and a face poked around his hip.

“Mur.”

Hunk’s grip loosened in his surprise and Pua squirmed free enough to drop out the front of his shirt. He quickly slammed the door shut as his cat jumped up onto the other boy's bed.

The boys watched in stunned silence as the cats greeted each other.

“So… you snuck your cat in too?”

“More like he snuck himself in. He somehow got into my luggage.”

“Oh… Name’s Hunk.”

“Lance.”

A moment passed.

“I won't tell if you don't.”

“Deal.”

* * *

A seven-year-old girl giggled as she played with one of her brother’s puzzle games.

“How are you doing that, Katie?” her brother chuckled, the fifteen-year-old no longer stunned by his sister’s genius.

The girl just continued to laugh as she handed over the completed puzzle. “Again!”

“Okay, but don’t think I'll go easy on you!” he said, rearranging it and being sure to make it harder this time around.

Katie laughed at her brother, but paused when she felt something staring at her. She turned and spotted golden eyes hiding amongst the leaves of their tree. She peeked over at her brother, who was focused on the puzzle, then stood up and ran over to the tree. Slowly, she started climbing up.

“Katie? Oh my gosh! Katie, get down from there!”

The girl pushed past a group of branches and gasped when she caught sight of the eyes’ owner. She moved to get closer, but a hand wrapped around her ankle.

“Maaaatt! Let me gooooo!”

“Katie, stop. You could get hurt. Come down.”

“But there's a cat up here!”

“If there's a strange animal up there then that just means you need to get away even more.”

“It's not a strange animal. It's a cat!”

“If you don't know the cat, then that makes it a strange animal. And you don't know any cats!”

“But…” Katie looked up at the cat.

It stared down at her for a moment before standing. Gracefully, it bounded from branch to branch until it collided with the girl’s chest.

“Woah,” she huffed at she lost her balance and fell into her brother's waiting arms.

“Katie, are you okay?” Matt asked, but the girl just laughed and pet the cat in her arms. It was a shiny silver color with just the faintest tinge of green mixed into the darker coloration on its back.

“I'm naming you… Chip.”

“Ka-Katie! Don't name it!”

“We’re keeping her!” Katie hissed, glaring at her brother. “And her name is Chip.”

“I…” Matt sighed. “Whatever. Mom and dad can deal with you.”

* * *

“Dad. Matt.”

Chip purred, nuzzling her fourteen-year-old friend.

Katie -- no, not Katie, Pidge -- smiled down at the cat and scratched behind her ears. “Don't worry, we’ll find them.”

“Mrow.”

“Yeah, together. Since you somehow managed to sneak into my barrack,” she chuckled, turning back to her gear. “You're lucky I don't have a roommate.” When she didn't get a response, Pidge turned to see Chip’s tail disappearing into her pack.

Shrugging, the girl pulled her headphones back on and closed her eyes. She let herself get so focused on the sounds of alien chatter, she almost didn't notice when someone pulled one of the ear pads away from her ear.

“You come up here to rock out?”

* * *

“Bye, Shiro!”

“See you next weekend!”

“Yeah, see you, space man! We’re gonna kick those spoiled Jays butts!”

Shiro laughed and waved as his friends and teammates drove off.

_I'm going to miss this_ , the seventeen-year-old thought as he adjusted the strap of his soccer bag on his shoulder and turned to head up the path to his house. _Next year I'll be an official cadet. Won't have any time for summer soccer tournaments then. And then there’s Angel…_

“Meow.”

Shiro turned at the sound to see a large cat perched on the short wall bordering the yard, it's silver fur and golden eyes seeming to glow in the moonlight as a sharp contrast to the pitch black stripes swirling across its body.

“Hey, you're the cat from the soccer field, aren't you?” the boy asked. Tonight had been the first time since the start of summer that Shiro hadn't spotted the cat lounging around near the field, watching the players. “What are you doing here?”

The cat didn't so much as twitch.

“Okay.” He turned back to his house again, but paused at a chirp.

He looked over to see the cat hopping down from the wall. It pranced over and wound itself around his legs.

“Well, hello to you too,” Shiro chuckled. He reached down to pet the cat.

It purred and nuzzled him for a moment before darting off into the bushes.

“Um… Bye?”

* * *

Shiro stretched as he stepped off the Garrison shuttle. He quickly got out of the way of the others exiting and headed over to grab his luggage.

“Mo-ow.”

Shiro chuckled and looked up to see Ryou lying atop the Garrison’s outer wall. “Hey, I see you made it here alright.”

The cat met his eyes for a second then turned and disappeared over the other side of the wall.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his bags. He wasn't at all surprised by Ryou’s behavior. Although he usually saw the cat at least once every other day, more often than not he only appeared long enough to check up on him or mess with Merla. His friends liked to tease that Ryou was “a mother cat checking up on her kitten.”

The twenty-three-year-old shouldered his bags and headed inside. After dropping off his luggage, he left towards the academy barracks.

_Time to see how Keith's settling in._

Shiro tracked down the boy’s room -- a private barrack, he noted with a sigh -- and knocked on the partially open door.

“Am I interrupting something?”

* * *

“Mew.”

Shiro looked up at the noise and chuckled. “You know Ryou, one of these days I’m going to figure out how you sneak in here.

Giving a soft sad noise, the cat hopped up into his lap and slumped down.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

He repeated the noise and nuzzled his leg.

“Aw, did you hear about the trip? Don’t worry, I won’t be gone long.”

The cat looked up at him with sad yellow eyes.

“You’ll see, I’ll be back from Kerberos before you know it.”

Slumping down again, Ryou dug his claws lightly into Shiro’s pants.

* * *

Keith sighed as he rested on the top of the shack. “Do you think Shiro’d be disappointed in me? I mean, he wasted all that time on me, and then I went and tossed everything away the moment he died. And now I’m running around the desert like a nutjob with a pair of cats as my only means of socialization.”

Ryou purred and nuzzled the fifteen-year-old’s hand.

“Thanks, though considering you’re part of the problem that really isn’t helpful.”

_Crazy._

Merla gave a yawn and turned over in her sleep. Ryou hissed at her.

Suddenly, both cats jerked up into sitting positions, ears twitching and alert.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, sitting up.

The two turned, looking up in the sky and Keith followed their gaze. Something was heading towards the ground, too high to be a plane, too large to be an ordinary meteor.

“Showtime,” Keith said and the three got off the roof. “Stay here.”

_What?_

Merla gave a yowl, but Ryou shoved her until she followed him into the shack. Keith jumped onto his bike and took off in the direction the object was falling.


	2. Reu-nya-ted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue disappears... or not. And the team meets some aliens. The number differs depending on who you ask.

“I'm serious. They keep repeating one word,  _ Voltron _ .” Pidge held up a notepad, which had the word written on it alongside a bunch of doodles. “And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it.”

“How crazy?” Lance asked, humoring the younger cadet.

“Meow?”

The trio spun around to see Pua and Blue pawing at Pidge’s bag.

“Pua! Blue! What are you guys doing out here?” Hunk shouted.

Lance glared at him and Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Are those your cats?”

“Uh, no?” Hunk asked, turning to Lance.

“Hunk,” the sixteen-year-old groaned.

He wasn’t the only one annoyed though as Pua jumped onto Pidge’s bag, tipping it over and dumping out a small cat. Chip immediately started hissing at the other two cats. Blue slinked forwards to nuzzle Chip, but she darted away and hopped up onto Pidge’s shoulders, still hissing at the larger cats.

Lance smirk. “Is that  _ your _ cat?”

She glared back, but lifted her hand up to try and sooth Chip.

“Wow, we all snuck our cats in. What are the odds?” Hunk chuckled.

“I didn’t sneak Chip in. She just followed me… somehow.”

“Hey, that’s the excuse Lance used our first year too.”

“First of all, I said Blue snuck into my luggage, and second, I wasn’t lying.”

“Well neither am I!”

“Attention, students.” The three cadets looked up as their instructor’s voice came on over the intercoms to cut them off. “This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”

“What's going on?” Hunk asked standing up. His eyes widened as he saw a ball of fire hurtling towards the ground. “Is that a meteor? A very, very big meteor?”

Pidge grabbed her binoculars. “It's a ship,” she said, looking through them.

Pidge yelped as Lance yanked the binoculars over his own eyes, pulling her along for the ride. “Holy crow! I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours.”

“No. It's one of theirs,” Pidge said with a big grin. Finally! Now she was getting somewhere.

“So, wait. There really are aliens out there?” Hunk whined as they watched the ship crash a short ways into the desert.

Pidge began stuffing her gear into her pack as the Garrison personnel geared up and headed out to the crash site. “We've got to see that ship!” she said, pulling on her pack. Chip quickly jumped on and settled atop the bag.

“Hunk, come on!” Lance said as he and Blue chased after her.

“Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever,” he told Pua, only to see that he was running after the others as well.

* * *

Keith took down the med techs easy enough. He moved over to the examination table, and froze when he realized who was on it.

“Shiro?”

_ But, how? What? _

Keith’s eyes narrowed and he drew his dagger, quickly cutting through the straps holding the twenty-five-year-old down. He had just gotten Shiro’s arm on his shoulder and started lifting him up when a trio of teenagers burst in.

One of the ones Keith vaguely remembered as being apart of his class at the Garrison started shouting as he bumbled forward to help Keith hold Shiro. “Nope. No, you- No, no, no. No, you don’t. I’m saving Shiro.”

“Who are you?”

“Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance.”

_ Okay, but that really doesn’t explain anything. _

Lance blinked at him, then added, “We were in the same class at the Garrison.”

_ Still doesn’t explain why you’re here or what you want with Shiro. _ “Really? Are you an engineer?” the younger boy asked, hoping to get some even semi-relevant information.

“No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”

_ Alright, now I know that’s not true. Wait a second- _ “Oh, wait. I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot.”  _ I’d recognize that annoying misinformation anywhere. _

“Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out.”

_ Is the fact that you only got there because I got expelled for punching some kid who bad mouthed Shiro really something to gloat about? _ “Well, congratulations.”

Keith went to take a step forward and nearly tripped. He looked down to see an overly happy turkish van nuzzling his boot. He looked up and noticed the smallest teen -- who look vaguely familiar, though Keith couldn’t place them -- was carrying an abyssinian on their backpack and a ragdoll was tucked next to the legs of the largest.

_ More cats? _

“Blue you traitor!” Lance hissed.

_ Blue? _ Keith looked down at the cat that was sniffing at him. Blue looked up at him with knowing, excited eyes.

When Lance started moving, Keith shook himself out of his stupor and got moving as well, carefully avoiding kicking the cat that stuck close to his heels.

They carried Shiro out to Keith’s bike, taking note of the largest teen’s frightened exclamation of, “Oh man, they’re coming back and they do not look happy.” Once they reached the bike, he asked, “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” even though the smallest teen was already clambering up onto the bike. It didn’t seem he was looking for an answer anyways, since he jumped onto the tail without waiting.

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” the smallest teen asked as the entire bike was jostled.

“No,” Keith growled. He flipped open the bag set in front of the handlebars and said, “Cats in the bag.”

“Excuse me,” Lance shouted, offended on Blue’s behalf even though it and the ragdoll were already climbing in. The abyssinian just ducked into the backpack it was riding on.

Keith flicked the bag closed and started the bike just as the lights from the Garrison’s vehicles fell over them. Thankfully it did lift off the ground and Keith turned away from the makeshift base and sped away in the opposite direction.

“Why am I holding this guy?” the smallest teen asked as Lance shoved Shiro into their arms.

“Hey, we did all fit,” the largest teen pointed out.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Lance complained, looking back at the approaching vehicles.

“We could toss out some non-essential weight,” Keith pointed out.

“Oh right!” A moment passed. “Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.”

Keith saw an opening and ordered, “Big Man, lean left!”

The bike suddenly tipped, allowing it to quickly swerve to the side. The Garrison vehicles tried to follow and two of them crashed.

Keith pulled the bike up a hill as the largest teen exclaimed, “Aw man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no, he’s fine.”

“Big Man, lean right!”

The bike swerved off a cliff and landed on the other side. The cars followed and another vehicle was down. One left.

“Guys-s-s-s-s, is that a cliff up ahead?”

“Oh no, no, no!” Lance shouted and the others soon followed suit.

Keith smirked and sped up. “Yep.”

The bike shot over the edge to the sounds of three voices screaming, “No, no, no, no!”

“What are you doing? You’re going to kill us all!” Lance screamed.

“Shut up and trust me!” Keith yelled back. He increased the power on the hover jets to cushion the fall and they landed rough, but safe, and continued on without stopping.

“You’re insane!” the smallest teen shouted and Keith felt a small foot dig into his back.

“We’re fine,” he growled.

“I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes!” Lance yelled.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” Big Man groaned.

“You all could have stayed at the camp, you know.”

“Who even are you?” the smallest teen asked.

“Right, Pidge, this is Keith. Keith, this is Pidge. And I’m Hunk, in case you forgot me like you forgot Lance,” Big Man said.

“Pleasure. What’s their name?” Keith asked, tilting his head towards the ragdoll peaking out of a hole that had been sown into the bag alongside Blue, both looking peaceful compared to the teens behind Keith.

“Oh, that’s Pua. It’s short for Pua Fiti.”

“Pua Fiti?”

“It’s a flower.”

“You named your cat after a flower?”

Keith sighed and tuned out the others. He did reach over to scratch Pua behind the ears though.

* * *

Keith turned off the bike and let the cats out once they pulled up next to a shack.

“What is this place?” Pidge asked as she lowered Shiro to Lance, who had already jumped to the ground.

“Do you live here?” Lance snorted.

Keith glared at him, but didn't get a chance to say anything as a pair of cats came running out.

The fluffy one immediately ran up to Shiro, nosing his hand with a “Mrow?”

The spotted one on the other hand chose to tackle Blue.

“Blue! Dude, get your psycho cat off mine!” Lance shouted, nearly dropping Shiro.

“Um…”

The two purring cats were completely intertwined, head butting and nuzzling one another.

_ I’ve missed you! I love you, Blue! I've missed you so much! Don't ever leave again! _

“Yeah, I don't think either of them want that. You can try if you want. Wouldn't recommend it, though.”

Lance glared and passed Shiro to Hunk. He reached down to grab Blue and got a long scratch on his arm from a hissing spotted cat for his efforts.

_ Mine! _

“Told you.”

“Control your cat! What even is that, a teacup cheetah?”

Keith ignored him and helped Hunk with Shiro. As they headed into the house, Ryou nuzzled Pua before walking over to nudge the lovebirds apart. They reluctantly pulled apart and Blue greeted him.

Lance took the chance to grab his cat. “Come on, you traitor.”

Blue lightly nipped his hand, but didn't try to get free.

Pidge, who had been looking over Keith's bike, was the last to enter the shack. She staggered only a few steps in when a weight hit her back. “Uh, Keith, can you get your cat off me?”

He looked up from lowering Shiro onto the couch to see the black and silver cat standing on his hind legs and clawing at Pidge’s bag. “Ryou is Shiro’s actually. Mine’s the serval, Merla. Ryou, what's up?”

“Mrow.”

“Mew?” Chip peaked her head out and purred at the sight of Ryou. She hopped down and the two cats greeted one another. Blue quickly squirmed free to join them.

“How many secret friends do you guys have?” Keith asked Merla.

The cat looked around at the other cats with hooded eyes and purred.

_ Pride. _

* * *

“What are these?”

The group was wandering through the cave Hunk had led them to using his  _ Voltron Geiger Counter _ and the others all looked around at the various carvings covering the walls.

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They're everywhere around here.”

Lance hummed and looked closer at one of the carvings. He brushed away some dust, then jumped away when the carving glowed blue. “Whoa. Whoa!”

They all made sounds of surprise as all the carvings began to glow.

“They've never done that before,” Keith said. He gasped when he spotted Blue standing next to Merla, her fur glowing the same blue. Her eyes flashed blue and she disappeared just as the floor crumbled from underneath them.

The five humans and four cats fell down a waterslide-like tunnel before being dropped into a shallow pond.

Lance was the first to rise and he gasped at the sight of the massive, robotic blue lion sitting in front of them. “They  _ are _ everywhere.”

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge asked once they were all on their feet.

“It must be,” Shiro said.

“This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here,” Keith added, walking towards the lion. “Looks like there's a force field around it,” he noted, staring at the blue hive pattern that seemed to be made from solid light and surrounded the robot in a dome.

“Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” Lance asked, shuffling from side to side as he walked and staring up at the robot.

Shiro hummed. “No.”

“Yeah. The eyes are totally following me.”

Keith glanced back at the boy, then up at the robot.  _ Blue? _

The eyes seemed to shimmer. Keith looked down at his feet and saw Merla staring up at him.

“I wonder how we get through this,” he said, turning back to the barrier and placing his hands on it. It didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t let him past.

“Maybe you just have to knock,” Lance joked. He walked up and knocked on the barrier. He jumped back and yelled when the barrier reacted to his touch, brushing a small burst of energy against his hand and sending a pulse across the barrier.

The lion’s eyes came to life and the barrier fell. The floor began to glow blue and a burst of images flowed through the humans’ minds.

_ Five lions. Yellow. Red. Black. Green. Blue. Flying in tandon. Coming together. A giant warrior robot. _

“Whoa,” Pidge and Lance gasped.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” Lance asked.

As the others talked about the vision, Keith’s eyes strayed to the four remaining cats. Gold markings. Auburn base. Black fur. Green tinted back.

“Incredible.”

The robot leaned down and opened it’s mouth, gaining shouts from Pidge and Hunk. The middle portion of its lower jaw lowered like a ramp.

Lance hummed and glanced at the others before chuckling and running inside. “Huh,” he said as he came into what seemed to be a cockpit. He smiled and dropped into the seat. “Here we go,” he said with a smirk, relaxing. It lasted a second before the seat suddenly shot forwards and he screamed.

The cockpit came to life as the others joined him. Keith fell a little behind as he glanced back at the cats following them. They all seemed a bit uncomfortable, though that didn’t stop Merla from brushing up against anything and everything with a purr.

_ Love! _

“Okay, guys, I-I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, you know, aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.”

Lance looked around until he spotted the four cats towards the back. “Wait, where’s Blue?”

“You’re just now noticing she disappeared?” Keith asked and Lance glared at him.

His eyes widened and he said, “Whoa, did you guys just hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I think it’s talking to me,” Lance answered, turning back to the controls.

One of Keith’s eyebrows went up at Lance’s short attention span that clearly rivaled his own. The other followed when Lance started hitting buttons and the Lion stood up and roared.

“Okay, got it. Now, let’s try this!”

The group, baring Lance, screamed as the lion plowed straight through the wall and up into the air. The cats latched onto their humans in an effort to not be tossed around the cockpit and Merla gave a yowl.

_ Please, be careful, love! _

“You are the worst pilot ever!” Keith shouted.

The lion landed and it ran across the ground. “Isn’t this awesome?”

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” Hunk groaned, looking green.

“I’m not making it do anything. It’s like it’s on autopilot.”

The lion jumped up, blasting into the air.

“Where are you going?” Keith asked.

The question was more directed towards Blue, or the robot lion Keith was assuming was Blue, but Lance still answered. “I just said it’s on autopilot! It says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.”

“What did it say, exactly?” Pidge growled.

“Well, it’s not like it’s saying words. More like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of.”

“Well, if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, I don’t know, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone. Sorry lion, nothing personal.”

All the cats hissed and Pua sunk his claws a little deeper into Hunk’s leg.

“You don’t understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything is dead.”

At shiro’s words, everyone glared at Hunk.

“Oh,” Hunk said, looking uncomfortable. “Never mind then.”

The lion exited the Earth’s atmosphere just in time to see a massive ship warp in ahead of them.

“Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?” Hunk yelled as the others gaped.

“They found me,” Shiro whispered and Ryou nuzzled his human hand.

The ship started firing lasers at them and Pidge shouted, “We’ve got to get it out of here!”

“Hang on!” Lance took control, piloting the lion up and around the blasts. “Alright. Okay, I think I know what to do.”

“Be careful, man. This isn’t a simulator!” Pidge shouted at him.

“Well, that’s good. I always wreck the simulator,” Lance chuckled.

_ We’re all going to die! _ Keith groaned in his head.

* * *

“Hello?”

“You know, I’m pretty sure if anyone was here and planned on answering, they would have done so after the fifth time you called,” Pidge pointed out.

“Right, sorry.”

“Hey guys,” Lance whispered, grabbing Shiro’s arm and pointing down a still darkened hallway.

They all turned to see a pair of yellow orbs approaching them.

_ Blue! _

“Wah-wah-wah!” Merla called and ran into the hallway. The lights flicked on, revealing Blue prancing towards them. He met Merla with a purr before the two returned to the humans.

“Blue!” Lance shouted. He scooped him up, to Merla’s annoyance, and hugged him.

“Where did she come from?” Pidge asked as she, Hunk, and Shiro stared at the cat in bewilderment.

“He,” Lance corrected, glaring at the cat who was clawing at his side and nosing Blue.

“He must have managed to get into the lion before we left,” Shiro said.

“Seriously?” Keith stared at the others as they agreed with Shiro.

He looked down at Ryou and he swore he could see laughter in his eyes as he stared up at Shiro. The other cats seemed equally amused by their humans.

He suddenly remembered Shiro just laughing off his theory about magic cats.  _ Right, whatever. Let them figure it out on their own then. _

The group continued on after that until they reached a large, round room.

“Where are we?” Lance asked as they all looked around the room.

“It’s some kind of control room,” Pidge said, staring down at a pedestal.

Suddenly a capsule-like device rose up from the floor, quickly followed by a second. Both appeared to have bodies in them.

“Are these guys… dead?” Hunk asked, hiding behind the pedestal.

One of the pods opened, revealing a woman with elfin features. Including the ears.

“Father,” she gasped, falling forwards and Lance swept forward to catch her, causing Blue to dart out of his arms before he could be squished.

The teen blushed then smirked. “Hello.”

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“I’m Lance, and you’re right here in my arms.”

“You’re ears.”

“Yeah?”

“They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?”

Merla let out chirps that sounded far too much like laughter and Blue swatted at her.

“Nothing’s wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!”

The mysterious woman grabbed Lance’s ear in one hand and his arm in the other and spun him around, pinning him. “Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?”

“A giant blue lion brought us here. That’s all we know,” Lance shouted, his eyes tearing up.

“How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin?” she commanded, releasing Lance. “What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help,” Shiro offered.

“I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep.” The princess, apparently, walked over and put her hands on the pedestal, activating it.

“Okay, that’s how that works,” Pidge noted.

The second pod opened and a man stumbled out. The humans watched as he and Lance displayed their, rather uninspiring, fighting skills.

“Wow, these guys are good,” Hunk said and Keith couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

“It can’t be,” the princess said, regaining everyone’s attention.

“What is it?” the man asked.

“We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years! Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization… Zarkon!”

The cats hissed and Shiro gasped.

“Zarkon?”

“He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people.”

“I remember now. I was his prisoner.”

“He’s still alive? Impossible!”

“I can’t explain it, but it’s true. He’s searching for a super weapon called Voltron.”

“He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we must find it before he does.”

Keith looked down at Merla and wondered if they already had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna have a "cats hate water" joke when they fell into the pool in Blue's cave, but somehow every single breed/species I chose likes water! How even?


	3. Coming Togeth-purr: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Pidge retrieve their lions.

“King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts.”

“Whoa!” the humans gasped as shimmering blue balls of light appeared around them. Keith chuckled as Merla stood with one of her forepaws on his back to try to swipe at one that floated near her, only for her paw to pass right through the hologram.

She growled and nipped his arm.

“These are coordinates,” Pidge noticed. When the orb that had the blue and black lions connected to it floated past, she added, “The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion.”

“Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage,” Coran said, leaning over, and the smallest human raised an eyebrow at him.

“Very observant. That's because the Black Lion is in the castle,” Allura stated.

“To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present,” Coran explained.

“As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain.” Allura waved her hand and the Black Lion came over to float in front of Shiro. Keith glanced down at Ryou to see him sitting next to Shiro, his tail brushing up against his human’s leg. He stared up at the Black Lion in contentment. “The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.”

Allura waved her hand again and the Green Lion floated towards Pidge. Chip’s ears perked up and she stood up from her spot on Pidge’s backpack. She put her paws on top of Pidge’s head to get a better look at the hologram. “The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.

“The Blue Lion -”

“Hold up, let me guess,” Lance said, cutting off the Princess. “Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?”

Merla chirp-laughed and Blue gave a whining “Mew!” before slumping in his arms. Lance gave a hiss and dropped him, so Keith assumed he had dug his claws into Lance’s arm. The Turkish Van came over to sit next to Keith and Merla nuzzled him.

Meanwhile, Allura’s eyebrow twitched and she quickly moved on. “The Yellow Lion,” she said, her voice nearly a growl as she sent the Yellow Lion towards Hunk, “is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.”

Hunk glanced around at the others before pointing to himself in confusion. Pua purred and nuzzled his leg comfortingly.

Allura formed the Red Lion in her hands. “The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others,” Merla stood up straight, holding her head up with pride, “but also more unstable.”

Merla hissed at the Princess.

_ Excuse me? _

“Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone.” Keith scratched Merla’s head as the Red Lion floated up to him. “Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.”

“What? This guy?” Lance asked and both Keith and Merla sent him a glare.

“Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work.”

Merla have a wordless hiss and Keith instantly knew there was something wrong with more than just the ship.

“Don't worry, we'll find it soon. They don't call me  _ The Coranic _ for nothing. It's because it sounds like mechanic. So... Coranic, mechanic. It's not - It doesn't sound... exactly like it. It's similar.”

The Red Lion hologram roared and the five lions all flew towards the center of the room. There was a flash and the robot from the humans’ vision was floating over Allura.

“Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.”

“Awesome!” Hunk gasped. As the robot hologram began to fade, he added, “Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?”

“We don't have much time,” Shiro said, causing Hunk to frown. “Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one.” Keith felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to meet Shiro’s eyes. “Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it.”

Keith nodded, swallowing.

“In the meantime, I'll get the castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed,” Allura said.

“I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion.”

* * *

 

As Lance and Hunk reached the Blue Lion’s hanger, Hunk pointed at the two cats following them and said, “Pua, Blue, you two wait here.”

The two cats met eyes and then Pua shot off into the hanger.

“Pua!” Hunk said, chasing after him.

“At least my cat knows how to listen!” Lance teased. He turned back to Blue and scratched his head. “Be good, bud.”

Blue purred under the attention. He watched his paladin walk into the hanger then his eyes glowed blue and he disappeared.

* * *

 

“… but I never got to fly the simulator. But hey, I can't be that worse than Lance. He crashed all the time. But what if I get in there and it doesn't respond? What if I get in there and it's too big and my feet don't touch the pedals? What if there aren't even pedals?!”

“You're rambling. Listen... Our commander on the Kerberos Mission is the smartest man I ever met, and he always said,  _ If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great. _ ”

Shiro smiled as the boy finally seemed to relax. He felt Ryou nudge his hand, but ignored him. Both he and Chip were in trouble for sneaking into the pod.

Pidge gasped and Shiro looked up to see the river ending in front of a path that led up to what appeared to be a vine covered temple. They said goodbye to their sloth-like guide and walked up the path. Just as the two reached the temple, Shiro opened his mouth, only to spot something out of the corner of his eye.

“Uh, Pidge.”

The boy turned to him and followed his gaze to see Chip glowing emerald like the designs on the path. She met Pidge’s eyes, then her own flashed green and she disappeared.

The two humans looked up at each other then turned to the temple.

“You don’t think…?”

Shiro shrugged. “One way to find out.” He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Go, be great.”

Pidge nodded and ran.

As Pidge disappeared up the vines, Shiro found his gaze traveling down to Ryou. He stared back at Shiro with far too intelligent eyes and suddenly everything odd about him made sense.

_ “Is he magic too?” _

_ “I'm serious, Shiro, the cats are magic.” _

_ “She calls him Black!” _

The ground shook and Shiro jumped. He looked up to see the vines collapsing, revealing the lion that had been supporting them in place of the temple Shiro had assumed was there.

The Green Lion landed, allowing Shiro and Ryou aboard.

“Shiro!” Pidge said as soon as he came into the cockpit. “It’s Chip! I don’t know how, but she’s- It’s- I don’t…”

“Pidge,” Shiro chuckled. “I get it.”

Pidge looked down at Ryou and Shiro followed his gaze. “Is it just… Are all of them… I mean, what are the chances? All five of us- Five cats- Five lions- It can’t be a coincidence.”

Shiro scratched Ryou’s head. “No, probably not. Blue  _ did _ disappear right before we found the Blue Lion and then he just reappeared after we left.”

Pidge smacked his forehead. “Wow, we’re blind. His name is even  _ Blue _ ! How did we not see that?”

The older male chuckled and shrugged.

* * *

 

“Oh yeah, sure, just drop me off in an alien planet. That's cool, man. It's only occupied by mean purple aliens that want to kill me, but whatever. Just ignore them and go connect with a big, yellow, mechanical cat. Easy-peasy. Yeah. That all makes a ton of sense to me.”

Pua purred comfortingly and nuzzled Hunk as he tried to hotwire the lift. Finally the lift began to move and Hunk sighed in relief. The two looked around as the lift traveled deep into the hole.

“Cool,” Hunk said as golden carvings began to appear on the ceiling like they had done on Earth. “Hey, Pua, are you- What the!?”

Hunk had turned to Pua, only to see his fur glowing a brilliant yellow. The lift came to a stop at the bottom and Pua jumped out, prompting Hunk to follow.

“Okay, I'm in a giant hole With a suddenly glowing cat. Now what, Hunk? Huh?” He looked around as more glowing carvings began to appear. Pua stopped in front of a circular one then he turned to Hunk. His eyes flashed yellow, brighter than his usual color, and he was gone. “Whoa.” The teen walked up to the wall and ran his hand along it. “How am I going to get through this?” He glanced over his shoulder and spotted a drill.

Well, he was able to hotwire the lift.

Once he was through the wall and standing in front of the Yellow Lion's force field, he almost felt… calm.

“Pua?” he asked running his hand over the barrier. Like the Blue Lion’s had done for Lance, energy pulsed out and around the field at Hunk’s touch. The Yellow Lion stood up and roared before lowering its mouth to the ground.

Hunk found himself smiling. He reached out and brushed his hand over the robot’s lower jaw. “I’m glad your happy, Pua, but we should probably get back to Lance.”

Hunk  _ felt _ Pua purr inside his mind and he opened up for him.

* * *

 

As the others all left, Coran following to help Pidge and Shiro with the pod, Allura approached Keith.

“While we have a moment, I’ve been wanting to ask. What are these little creatures you all brought with you? They almost look like mini versions of the lions.”

“They are, kind of. See, we have lions on our planet too. Flesh and blood ones, I mean, and their only about this big,” Keith said, using his hands to try his best to match the height of the lions he had seen at the zoo when he was eight. “These guys are called house cats -- well the other four are at least. Mine, Merla, is a species of, what we call, wild cats, just like Earth lions. They all have a common genetic ancestor, but while wild cats evolved independently, in the wild, house cats began to live with humans and they evolved to better coexist with us.”

“And these  _ house cats _ , are they protectors?”

“Kind of, but mostly they're just pets.”

“Pets?”

“Animals humans keep in their home for company and entertainment. Originally because they had some kind of use, but nowadays we just have them because we like them.”

“And what function did cats have?”

“Um…” Keith glanced down at the Altean mice. “Actually, it was to keep mice and rats out of our house, so you might actually want to keep an eye on the little guys.”

As if to prove his point, Merla focused her gaze on the mice and shifted into a pouncing position. The mice squeaked and fled up to hide in Allura’s hair. Merla chirped.

“Play nice,” Keith sighed before turning back to Allura.

Allura was frowning. “Why would you want to keep mice out?”

“Earth mice are a bit different than yours. The wild ones are just pests and a lot of the time they carry diseases.”

“Oh, I see. You said -- Merla? -- was a wild cat though. Are wild cats pets as well?”

“Normally, no. Merla’s not really a pet though. We kind of grew up together. She's been with me as long as I can remember. It's more like you and the mice really.”

“Intriguing.”

“The paladins are ready,” Coran declared, coming back into the room.

Keith sat down out of the way as Allura stepped back up onto her platform. She held out her hands and two -- Keith was going to call them control panels for lack of a better term -- rose up. Coran took his place at a console a short ways away and a holoscreen appeared before him. Allura put her hands on the control panels and a screen appeared over the glass windows showing the Blue Lion and the pod. Wormholes appeared before each.

“We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Well, enjoy the trip!”

Keith’s eyes widened as the others began protesting before disappearing into the wormholes. “That was a joke, right?”

“Probably,” Coran said.

“Coran, I’ll take care of the wormholes. Start working on getting the castle fixed. We’re going to need the defenses and we have to find the Red Lion.”

“Right away, Princess.”

Keith zoned out, watching Merla prowl around the room. His hand idly slipped inside one of the pockets on his waist pack and pulled out a chain to fidget with until Pidge and Shiro returned, the Green Lion carrying the pod they had taken.

“Shiro and Pidge are back. Coran, how are you doing?” Allura asked.

“We’re at around seventy-five percent, but there’s still nothing on the Red Lion.”

A message flashed on the large screen and Allura opened up a communication channel with Lance and Hunk, who must have gotten ahold of the Yellow Lion.

As she talked to them, Keith looked down at Merla. “Can you give them a hand?”

She gave a hiss and pressed up against him, but headed towards Coran as soon as Allura closed the channel.

“Hey, get down from there,” Coran huffed, trying to shoo her away when she jumped up onto his consol.

The cat gave him a rebellious look and pressed her paw against the screen. Her eyes glowed red, then so did the screen. The hologram coordinates from before filled the space before focusing on the planet they were on.

Keith jumped to his feet as a ship similar to the one that has chased them away from Earth appeared over the planet, a line connecting it to the Red Lion. “That's not good.”

“The Galra have the Red Lion,” Allura gasped.

“The ship looks close. I thought you said we'd have days.”

“It seems my estimates were a bit off,” Coran chuckled nervously.

_ Nice job, weird man! _

Merla gave him a snarl before jumping down to return to Keith. As Keith scratched her ears, Allura stared at the cat.

“How did it do that?”

“The cats are the lions!” Pidge shouted as she and Shiro came into the room, Ryou and Chip just behind. “I-I don't know how, but it's true!”

“You too?” Hunk asked as he, Lance, Blue, and Pua ran in.

“What are you all on about?” Lance asked.

“You still haven't figured it out? You've piloted Blue twice now,” Keith snorted and Merla gave a “Wrrrrrrrah” of agreement from her spot cuddled up against Blue.

_ You're paladin is an idiot, love. _

“How long have you known?” Pidge asked.

“The cats are the same colors as the lions,” Keith pointed out. “Then Blue magically appeared in space with us.”

“That is a very good point,” Hunk chuckled.

“I'm sorry, are you all saying your cats are connected to the lions?” Allura interjected, looking confused.

“More like the cats are the lions in cat form,” Pidge tried to elaborate.

“Impossible! The Blue, Yellow, and Green Lions are all in their hangars where you left them,” Allura said, bringing up the security feed to double check.

“I'm guessing something like this hasn't happened before?” Shiro asked.

“No, never.”

“The lions have also never been without paladins for so long before,” Coran pointed out. He dropped to the floor and began poking Ryou, who just stared at him, unimpressed. “Perhaps they managed to separate their quintessence from their metallic bodies to create these small organic-like forms so as to track down new paladins themselves! Incredible! That's good news for the Red Lion, though! If its quintessence is down here then there's no way any of the Galra on the ship orbiting above us have managed to gain access to it!”

“You found the Red Lion! Wait, Galra ship?” Lance said, excited at first before deflating.


	4. Interlude: Mother of Cats, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red gets bored, which usually never results in anything good, and ends up making a new friend.

Red was annoyed. No, more than annoyed, she was _bored_!

She'd just spent who cares how long sitting on that molten little excuse for a moon Alfor had left her on -- and oh boy would she have words with him if she ever saw him again. Words and flames!! -- with nothing to do but watch the lava flows. And now Black’s Reject had uprooted her just to parade his little worshippers in front of her and demand she pick one.

Yeah, that wasn't happening. As if any of those bootlickers could ever be her paladin!

It had been amusing at first.

She scoffed at the ones that strutted in already “knowing” who she'd picked, then laughed when they threw a fit when she didn't even glance their way. She growled at the ones who thought they could force their way in, wished to blast them off the face of the universe, and watched with smug satisfaction as they left with their tails between their legs, sometimes literally. She watched with pity the ones who stumbled in already knowing she wouldn't choose them and fearing what would happen to them as a result. Reject was only getting angrier with every not-to-be paladin.

As time passed though, the amusement wore off. It was the same thing, over and over, with nothing ever changing.

At least the lava flows shifted over time. The Galra, not so much.

Red was bored and as Black always said, that was a scary thing to behold.

She started… experimenting.

Her body had been locked down by Alfor, but not her energy. She started pushing her quintessence out of her body, around her then away. Testing the limits.

At first she just watched, letting her invisible cloud of energy float around the variety of ships and stations and planets she ended up on like a ghost. When that grew boring as well, she tried constricting her energy until it became something visible, tangible. She molded the cluster into the form of a vicx, a creature similar looking to herself, but the size of an Altean space mouse and with eight legs. With this new form she was free to scamper through the vents of her current carrier ship.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

A barbed tail stood high in the air as it's owner watched the two Galra argue.

“This is the fifth time, Mirax!”

“I'm telling you, Commander, we've got pests! Miros or Kalvi! I've heard them, clattering through the vents!”

“So you keep saying. And yet every time I call in the exterminators, they find nothing. It's starting to look less like pests and more like sabotage.”

“C-Commander I swear-”

“You know, the guys down in engineering think it's a ghost.” The two Galra looked down at the third, who'd been fixing the chewed through wires without a word up until that point. Finished with his work, he closed the console and turned to the two. “Small things go missing only to turn up half-way across the ship in some impossible place. Locked rooms end up trashed with no evidence of anyone entering. Moans and screams coming from the walls. That's what all the rumors are at least. Never seen any of it myself.”

“Ghosts? Ridiculous! It's obviously pests!”

“I don't care what it is! It needs to either stop or be kept quiet! We drop off our special cargo on Vivno XL next quintant and I will not be made a fool of!”

Red chittered and stretched before leaving. So, she was going planetside. That could be interesting. If she was lucky, she could find an open area to try forming a larger species. A werevo maybe? Ooh, or a moasan!

The vicx returned to her hanger and remerged with her metallic body to rest.

Once they'd arrived on Vivno XL, Red slipped away in energy form until she reached the forest outside. She constricted her energy and morphed it into the shape of a moasan. The moasan was another creature that resembled herself, though this one was twice the height of the average Galra with four curling horns and long fur that fell around her body like a curtain.

Red put her new form to work, chasing the local wildlife around the forest and exploring the area. It was actually quite interesting. She and the other lions had never had the chance to just explore before. Red wanted to see everything!

* * *

She had been on the planet for a few quintants and was halfway across the world from her metallic form when she felt something.

The moasan looked up from terrorizing a medium sized creature she didn't know the name of -- which quickly made use of her distraction and fled -- at the odd feeling. It was weirdly familiar, yet completely foreign. It felt like… home, but at the same time not.

She followed the feeling until she reached one of the Galran outposts on the planet, a different one than where she was housed. She let her form shrink back into the form of a vicx and entered the base undetected.

The feeling eventually led her to a female Galra working in communications. She briefly wondered if she was meant to be Red’s paladin before brushing the idea off. The woman was too calculating and mindful. She'd be a far better match for green. Or maybe her sweet Blue. The woman did have that open feel they liked in their paladins.

By the Anodites, Red missed them.

Curious, Red stuck around the base to watch the woman. That was how Red figured out the Blade of Marmora was still sneaking around. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one to realize that not all the calls the woman was making were empire approved.

A feeling of dread filled her as Red watched the woman get cornered by a pair of soldiers and a handful of sentinels from a vent. This woman… This woman was important for some reason. She could not be captured.

Red dropped out of the vent and shifted her form to that of a creature she'd seen on the planet -- another creature that matched her shape, though this one had scales instead of fur, foot long fangs that hung from her upper jaw, and no tail. She latched onto one of the sentinels with her fangs and claws, bringing it down on another.

The distraction allowed the woman to draw her own blade and together they took down her assailants. Then they fled through the halls to the hanger. The woman jumped into a pod then smiled back at Red. “Thank you, prycoso.”

Red debated with herself as the woman got ready for launch before jumping inside just as the doors were closing. The woman waited until they'd left the atmosphere before turning to Red. “What are you doing here?”

Walking over, Red chirped and nuzzled up to the woman. She let her form shift into that of a Galra abisno, which was rather similar to the creature she’d been before, though fluffy with a long bushy tail.

The woman's eyes widened. “What are you?”

Red purred and set her head on the woman's lap.

The woman sighed and scratched behind her ears. “Either way, thank you. I couldn't have gotten out of there without you.”

* * *

Red lost track of time after that. It was so bizarre being stuck in such a tiny area. The ships she was always carried in were huge in order to support her own size. This ship? If she was in her metallic form she probably could have picked it up in her mouth like her mother used to do to her when she was annoying Green. She was pretty sure her own cockpit was bigger than the one she was currently curled up at the back of.

A buzzing filled the room and Red looked up in time to see a video call open on a holoscreen. Red was immediately on guard, but relaxed when the woman smiled at the Galra man.

“Thace!”

“Liva! Are you alright? What happened?”

“I was discovered, but I managed to get away unharmed. I snuck out of Galra territory so I'm going to set down and hide out until I can be sure I'm not being followed.”

“Should I inform headquarters you'll be returning as soon as you deem it safe?” he asked in that voice Black always used when the question was _secretly_ a command.

“Of course, I'll see you soon.”

The man frowned and looked away. “Unfortunately I won't be here to greet you.”

The woman looked confused before her face went carefully blank. “You got the job.”

“I leave in five quintants.”

“I wish I could see you off.”

“It's too dangerous, for both you and the Blade.”

“I'll miss you.”

“And I you,” the man said, holding up his hand. A sound came from off screen and he glanced away. “I've got to go.”

“Alright. I won't be able to risk another call until I can return.”

“And I won't be able to risk one until my position is stable.”

“Be safe.”

“You too.”

Red slipped into the cargo hold to give the two privacy. She sniffed around the almost empty area until she found an emergency kit with food rations, water, and medical supplies. She grabbed a ration pack and water pouch with her tail and walked back over to the cockpit door. She listened at the door, then let herself in when she was met by silence.

“There you are,” the woman chuckled when she entered. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

The abisno purred and nosed the woman's -- The man had called her Liva, hadn't he? -- hand. She dropped the pack and pouch on Liva’s lap before curling up at her feet.

“Oh, thank you.” Liva took a quick drink from the pouch before opening up the rations. She split it in half before holding out half to Red, which Red accepted gratefully.

Her form didn't technically need to eat, but given that she didn't know when she'd be able to return to her metallic form, the energy from the food would help her maintain the strength needed to stay tangible.

She was laying on the floor at Liva’s feet, thinking over the new experience of chewing and swallowing, when she felt it. She was standing immediately, paws up on the dash to look out the windows.

“Is something wrong?” Liva asked.

Eyes darting about, Red took in their surroundings. They were just passing a red planet that seemed empty and ahead she could see a planet that was blue with speckles of green, brown, and white and had a simple little moon orbiting it.

Blue and white.

_Blue!_

“Nnnrrr!”

“What's wrong?” Luca asked. She spotted the planet and with a few gestures a holoscreen brought up a closer image of it.

Red purred and pawed at the screen.

“You wanna go there?”

She turned to the woman.

Liva turned back to the holoscreen. “Blue and green, that usually means plenty of water and plant life. Plant life will mean food. We'll have to watch out for any native sapient species, but otherwise it should make a good hiding spot. Alright then, prepare for landing.”

* * *

Red darted about the clearing they'd landed in in a frenzy.

Blue was here! She found Blue! They were somewhere on this planet with her!

How would she find them?

She froze, still except for her tail flicking back and forth.

Her senses told her that her love was on this planet, but she couldn't get any more precise in this form. She tried calling out through the connection her pride shared, but got nothing in return.

She was so close, and yet they were still so far away.

“What's wrong, prycoso?”

Red turned to see Liva coming out of the pod. She ran over and pressed against her legs.

Liva scratched behind her ears and said, “I’m going to go look around the area. Do you want to come along?”

“Vvvvveeew,” Red called, nuzzling Liva one last time before hopping over to climb up the pod. She sat down at the top, ears at attention and tail slowly shifting back and forth.

“Alright then, you guard the ship. I’ll be back.”

Red listened to Liva wander off to the ship’s right. She waited up on the ship for a varga before jumping down. A sniff of the air and she was wondering off a little forwards of the ship’s left towards the scent of water. She ran through the trees until she reached a curling river. She crouched down and approached slowly, eyeing the trio of scaled creatures swimming in circles.

_Closer… closer…_

Red pounced.

One creature slipped away, but the other two were caught firmly in Red’s mouth. Boastful, the abisno strutted back through the forest with her prize.

“Ihsakat, luferac eb.”

Red froze, then ducked under a bush. She set her prey down and peeked out.

There were two creatures stomping through the forest. They almost looked like Alteans, though with small, rounded ears, no markings, and dull hair and eyes. Both had black hair while the smaller of the two had dark grey eyes and the taller had brown.

The smaller turned to the other and shouted something in it’s native tongue -- “Orb, ma I!” -- as it waved some sort of device around.

This wasn’t good. There was no telling what these creatures would do if they found Liva.

Red glanced around before climbing into a tree as quietly as she could. She slipped from tree to tree until she was between the pod and the creatures. She made sure she was hidden from their sight as she dropped to the ground then let out a long, low growl. Hopefully these creatures had a predator that had a similar call.

Both creatures stiffened at the sound and the smaller went to the bigger’s side. “Taht saw tahw?”

“Ereh fo tuo teg s'tel, no emoc. Noil niatnuom a ekil dednuos.”

“T-thgir.”

The larger creature put his hand on the smaller’s shoulder, leading it away. She watched the two go, listening to their footsteps when they were out of sight until she was sure they were gone. Relaxing, she slipped out of her hiding spot to retrieve her prey.

“Ti dneps ot yaw doog a gnidnif si/Noitareneg ruo rof melborp launna eht os!/Ti dne ot tsuj gnola semoc loohcs dna/Noitacav remmus fo syad ruof dna derdnuh eno s'ereht!”

Red yowled and spun towards the loud noise, ready to fight. However, she saw nothing.

“Rewot Leffie eht pu gnibmilc ro/Ymmum a gnithgif ro/Tekcor a gnidliub…/Ebyam ekil!”

Red followed the sound until she saw the device the smaller creature had been holding. It must have dropped it when she startled them.

As she looked closer, it almost seemed like some sort of primitive holoscreen. She watched it flash a picture of another of the creatures -- this one with dark skin, long brown hair, and green eyes -- as it continued to make noise before it finally fell silent and went black. She waited a moment to see if it would do anything else, then picked it up with her tail and returned to gathering her prey.

Liva had already returned when she got to the pod and looked relieved when Red walked up. “You shouldn’t wander off, prycoso.”

Red just huffed and dropped her prey at Liva’s feet. Honestly, as if she couldn’t take care of herself.

“Oh,” Liva exclaimed, kneeling down to grab the two creatures. She held them up to look them over. “Are these edible?”

Staring at the woman, Red cocked her head to the side. How was she supposed to know what was edible for Galra on a foreign planet?

“Right, I’ll have to scan it to check. I caught a couple small terrestrial animals, but they read as inedible without proper processing. Thankfully there seems to be a surplus of edible vegetation.”

Red’s nose scrunched up.

“Yeah, I’d prefer not to have to live off plants either.”

Purring, Red nosed her leg, then held out the device.

“What’s this?” Liva took the device and looked it over. “Where did you get this?”

The abisno glanced off back the way she’d come from.

“Right.” Liva sat down and tapped randomly at the device’s screen and buttons, trying to get it to react, until she hit the circular button and the screen lit up. Red peaked over her shoulder to see a picture of the two creatures from before taking up the screen. “Oh!”

* * *

Akira Kogane looked up when he heard the doorbell ring. “Takashi!”

No response.

Sighing, Akira set down the dish he was washing and dried his hands. He walked over and opened the door with a, “Hello there.”

Expecting one of his brother’s friends, his eyes widened when instead he was met with the sight of a tall, lean woman with waist-length black hair and brilliant violet eyes. “Oh, uh, hello? How may I help you?”

The woman gave an awkward smile and brushed her hair out of her face. “Hello,” she said with a strong accent Akira didn’t recognize. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I found this while out hiking and the address led to this home.”

He took the phone she held out and smiled when the screen lit up. “Thank heavens. My brother lost this while we were out and I was worried I’d have to get him a new one. Thank you much, Ms.?”

“Mun, Bora Mun. Glad I could help.”

“I’m Akira Kogane, but just Akira, please. Are you new to the area?”

“Yes, I only got here a month ago.”

“Work or pleasure?”

“Pleasure, I suppose. I just needed to get away from where I was before.”

“Well, I hope you’re happy here, Ms. Mun.”

“Thank you, Akira. And you can call me Liva.”

“Liva?”

“It’s a nickname, of sorts.”

“Well, thanks again, Liva. I suppose I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Liva sighed as she made it back to the pod.

“Mmmmrrrrrr.”

She smiled and looked up to she Romelle lying in one of the seats. At least, she thought it was Romelle. “I see you found a new form.”

Romelle purred and pointed her nose towards the holoscreen that was connected to the planet’s -- Earth’s -- information database -- the internet. On the screen was the mountain lion, the earth creature that Romelle had exactly matched, though its fur was tan while her’s was a soft red color.

“Now I guess we both fit in, don’t we?” she asked, reaching up to her ear-com. She pressed a button on the side. Her body flickered and she once more looked like her Galra self. “For the best. The more we fit in, the less the locals will question. Neither of us are getting off the planet until those scouts move from the edge of the galaxy.”

The mountain lion hissed and rolled over.

“In fact, I’ve been thinking it might be for the best that we get a more permanent home now that we know more about human culture.

Romelle fell off the seat with a yelp.

Liva laughed. “I know, but we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here. It’s been over twenty quintants. A human home will help us keep hidden, both from the humans and if the Galra come looking.”

After jumping back onto the seat, Romelle gave a gurgling growl and slumped over.

* * *

“Liva?”

Liva looked up and smiled as she saw a familiar face on the other side of the counter. “Akira, hello. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Likewise. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I just started this week. Oh, who’s this?”

The man helped a small boy up onto a barstool before sitting down next to him. “This is my brother, Takashi.”

“Hello,” the boy said with a wide smile.

“Hi, there.” She set a pair of menus in front of them and asked, “Can I get you two anything?”

“A milkshake!” Takashi cheered.

“We’re supposed to be getting breakfast.”

Takashi pouted and slumped onto the counter.

“Takashi,” Akira warned.

Liva chuckled. “How about a chocolate milk instead?”

Takashi turned to his brother.

“Oh, alright.”

“Yes!”

Both adults laughed and Liva grabbed the milk from a mini fridge behind the counter. “One for you as well, Akira?”

“Just coffee, thanks.”

“So where are you two headed?”

“The summer carnival starts today! Akira promised to take me on all the rides!”

“Really? I’ve never been to one of those before.”

“Never?” Takashi gasped and Liva briefly wondered if she said the wrong thing. Did most humans go to carnivals? Akira didn’t look too shaken though, so maybe she was okay. “Why not? They’re great! There’s food and rides and games where you can win giant stuffed animals! You should come with us!”

Well, it did sound intriguing, and she was curious to know what _rides_ and _stuffed animals_ were. “I don’t get off for a couple hours still.”

“You can meet us after, right bro? Then we could show you around! It’ll be great! Say you’ll come!”

“Takashi, be nice. She doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she said, worried Akira didn’t want her to come. She could always go on her own later, but it would be nice to have a guide.

“Oh, no, it’s no problem,” Akira said, looking surprised, though sincere.

“So will you meet us after you get done?”

Liva smiled and three hours later she was wandering onto the fairground in her new sundress.

“Liva!” The Glara grinned as Takashi came running up. “You’re here!”

“I said I would be,” Liva chuckled and waved at Akira, who was walking towards them at a more sedate pace.

“Come on, you have to come on the ferris wheel with me!”


	5. Coming Togeth-purr: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time on Roar:
> 
> _"That's good news for the Red Lion, though! If its quintessence is down here then there's no way any of the Galra on the ship orbiting above us have managed to gain access to it!”_
> 
> _“You found the Red Lion! Wait, Galra ship?” Lance said, excited at first before deflating._  
> 

“Allura just located it. There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again! We're Arus!”

“They're here already?”

“Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is - it's more of an art than a science. Hmm?”

The group looked up as the screen behind Coran started flickering. Suddenly the screen was taken up by a purple alien with a robotic eye and giant bat-like ears.

“Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire,” he said. “I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.” The screen shut off immediately after his proclamation.

“All right, let's not panic,” Shiro said.

“Not panic?” Hunk said, very clearly beginning to panic. “Th-the scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four lions.”

“Technically, only three working lions,” Pidge added.

“That's right. Thank you, Pidge.” Hunk patted her shoulder. “Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old.”

“Actually, it's 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather-”

Hunk cut him off with a finger to the mouth. “Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!”

“Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate,”Allura pointed out.

“Girl, you've already activated my par-”

“Lance!” Shiro warned, sending the teen an unimpressed look.

“The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever,” Coran noted, bringing up an overview of the ship that was approaching them. He crossed his arms and added, “The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last.”

“Panic now?”

“No. We've just got to figure out our plan of action. And figure it out quickly.”

“I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day,” Lance offered.

“I second that. Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about.”

“Then, it's settled. Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy.”

“We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them,” Pidge argued.

“Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we-” Hunk hissed while making a snake motion, “- out of here.”

“Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyway. Besides, we can’t just abandon the Red and Black Lions,” Keith countered and Merla growled in agreement. “Staying is our only option.”

“Here's an option: shut your quiznak,” Lance said with a mouth-zip gesture. Coran, Allura, and Pua gave him appalled expressions. Blue whined and flopped to the ground, while Ryou and Chip just huffed. Merla began chirp-laughing and buried her face in Keith’s side.

“I don't think you're using that word correctly.”

“What do you know, Mullet?”

“We're staying.”

“Leaving!”

“Staying!” Pidge shouted.

“Snake!” Hunk joined.

“Guys, stop!” Shiro command and the teens pulled apart from where they’d been standing over one another. “Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?”

“I... I-I don't know.” The princess frowned and stared at the ground.

“Perhaps your father can help,” Coran offered softly.

“My father?”

* * *

“You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship.”

The group was looking over the Galra ship overview again as they planned, already geared up.

“That's a pretty big ship. How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?” Keith asked.

“Well it's not a matter of  _ we _ . It's a matter of  _ you _ .”

“Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and like track it down.”

“Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?”

“Yeah. You made fun of me for that.”

“And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo.”

“Keith, remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect. Although, that might not be hard, all things considered.” Allura sent a look to the cats and Merla chirped.

_ He’s my cub. I’ll be the judge of that. _

Keith sent her a worried look and Shiro set his hand on his shoulder.

“All right, here's our plan of attack,” the oldest paladin declared, stepping forward. He, Coran, and Allura had already come up with a plan while the teens had been getting used to their bayards. “The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up.”

“Wait, what?”

“While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit.

“Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon.”

“And how exactly do we do that?” Hunk questioned.

“You’re going to be piloting a giant robot lion. How hard can it be?” Pidge said.

“Right,” Hunk said, not looking convinced.

Lance gestured back to the cats. “What about them?”

“Merla will have to come with us, but Chip, Blue, and Pua are going to be in their lions and Ryou can stay he-”

Ryou hissed and walked over to press against Shiro’s side. He gave Shiro an authoritative look.

“I don’t think he’s staying behind, Shiro,” Keith said.

“This mission’s going to be too dangerous for a cat,” Shiro pointed out.

Keith glanced at Merla. “He’s got a point.”

_ I can take care of myself. _

She snorted, but stood up and stretched. He body began to glow, then shift. When the glow faded, there was a red cheetah standing in her place. Merla shook herself and sent an imperious look at Shiro.

Everyone except the cats and Keith gave her a shocked expression.

“Well, that’s new,” Shiro muttered.

“Not really.” Keith shrugged.

“Can you do that?” Lance asked, looking at Blue.

She tilted her head to the side, then closed her eyes. It took a bit longer than Merla, but her form was soon replaced by that of a white tiger with blue-black stripes. Merla immediately came over to nuzzle the much larger cat.

The other cats seemed to take that as their cue as each shifted form. Pua became a simple yellow lion, Ryou became a pure black liger, and Chip became a silver-green leopard.

“Well, if we needed any more proof that our cats aren't normal,” Pidge said as Chip nudged her hip, nearly knocking her off her feet.

“Magic cats,” Shiro sighed with his face in his hand.

* * *

“Don’t chew on it,” Keith whispered for the fifth time as the Green Lion locked onto the underside of the Galra ship.

_ Should have shifted into something that can survive a vacuum. _

Merla growled, but stopped chewing on the armor of the suit Coran had provided for her. Ryou, in a matching set, huffed and nosed at her reprimadedly.

Keith still wasn't sure why the Alteans had armor that fit wild cats, but he assumed it must have used the same kind of tech that allowed the paladin armor to fit all of them perfectly. That would explain why the armor around Merla’s paws had claws while Ryou’s didn't. Would his have some if he flexed his own out?

“Alright, let's move,” Shiro ordered once they were secure, snapping Keith out of his thoughts, and the five moved into Green’s mouth. Once their masks were on, Pidge had Green open up and they jetpacked to the ship’s hull. Pidge used their spade-like katar to cut an opening for them to enter through and they floated in.

“Pidge, what's your ETA?” Lance’s voice called through their communicator’s just as they landed inside.

“We're in,” Pidge replied as they landed next to Keith and Shiro. They jumped a second later when Chip appeared next to them in a flash. “Woah, I didn’t know you were coming along.”

She gave a soft, rumbling growl and nuzzled them.

_ Why doesn’t Green have to wear armor!? _

Merla growled and shoved Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes and patted her head.

_ Don’t patronize me! _

She snapped at his hand and flicked her tail.

“Then stop acting like a baby.”

“What?” Pidge asked and they and Shiro turned to him.

“Merla’s upset about having to wear the armor.”

“It’s for the best,” Shiro said as the group started down a hallway. “The armor will protect her until we can get to the Red Lion.”

Merla huffed and took lead. When they reached a corner she peeked around to make sure it was clear. Pidge and Chip stayed behind as the others turned the corner. Keith, Merla, and Ryou only got a few steps before Shiro let out a groan.

“I've been here before,” he panted and the others walked back over to him. “After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here.”

“So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here. We-We've got to rescue them.”

“Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus.”

“But we can't just leave prisoners here!” Pidge argued.

“Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let's get moving.”

“No!” Pidge shouted. When Keith and Shiro turned back to them, they looked down at the floor. “Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you.”

“Commander Holt is your father?” Shiro asked and Keith’s eyes grew soft. That’s why they looked familiar. They were like a younger Matt.

Didn’t he have a sister though?

Oh.

“Yes. I've been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!”

“I'm coming with you.”

Keith blinked. “What?”

“I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you and Merla go find the Red Lion.”

“By ourselves?” Shiro had to be kidding, right?

“Minor change of plans. You'll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus. So-” Shiro cut off as a door opened up down the hallway they’d come from. “Run!”

The group split up with Shiro, Ryou, Pidge, and Chip running one way and Keith and Merla the other.

Keith ran until he reached a fork in the hallway. Panting, he questioned, “Great. Now, which way?”

He stared up at the symbol etched into the wall and paused. There was something… familiar about it.

Footsteps came from one of the hallways and Keith and Merla fled down the other. They kept taking twists and turns, Keith getting more and more annoyed the longer he ran without finding anything.

“You've got to be kidding me!” he growled when he came to the first fork again. Or was it? He didn’t even know. All the hallways looked exactly the same. “A little help here?” he barked at Merla.

The cheetah eyed him for a moment, her eyes distant and her tail flicking. Finally, she met his gaze.

Her body glowed red, then so did her eyes.

She was gone.

“Merla!” he shouted. He leaned up against the wall and panted heavily.  _ Now what? _

He thought back to what the others had said, but it didn’t make sense. He didn’t feel anything right now. Sighing he closed his eyes. “Patience yields focus.” He tried to relax, to calm himself. Shiro always said his temper was a detriment. He took a deep breath and focused.

_ Keith. _

“Gotcha.”

Keith raced down the hallways. Violet, green, violet, door. Keith glanced around the doorway until he saw a panel with a handprint on it. He set his hand on it and the door slid open. He smiled when he saw the Red Lion suspended in a hanger, contained in a red hive patterned sphere.

He ran up to it and said, “Bingo. Let's get out of here.” He placed his hand on the sphere and frowned when nothing happened. “Open up.” Nothing. “It's me. Keith. Y-your cub.” Was something wrong with her? Why wasn’t anything happening? “It's me! Keith, your - I am your paladin!” He knocked on the sphere like Lance had, but still nothing.

Keith ducked as a barrage of laser fire flew past his head. He summoned his shield and shouted, “I'm bonding with you! Merla! Hey! Come on! We're connected!” He grunted as the lasers continued to pelt his shield. Something had to be wrong. Why wasn’t Merla responding?

Had he done something wrong?

Keith shoved the thought down and summoned his bayard. Whatever was happening, one thing was clear.

“You're not getting this lion!” he growled as he ran at the Galra that were attacking him. He took down one, then another, before a blast caught his chest and knocked him back. He glanced around before he saw the controls for the hanger. He activated his mask and slammed his hands on a large button. Thankfully it did exactly as he hoped and the hanger doors slid open. The room quickly lost pressure, sucking the Galra out into the void.

Keith tried to keep ahold of the controls, but pieces of debris slammed into him and made him lose his grip. His eyes darted about as he toppled into space, trying to find some way to fix the situation. He gasped as his spinning brought him face to face with a giant metallic red lion who quickly swallowed him up. He laughed as he was deposited into a chair and felt Merla’s purr echo through his mind.

Only she would feel the need to test him.

“Good kitty,” he said as the chair slid into the cockpit. “Let’s roll.”

* * *

With Ryou at his side, Shiro stood in front of the massive doors to the Black Lion’s hanger. Behind him, he heard each of the other lions light up as they connected to the castle. The door to the hanger began to glow and Shiro let out a shaky breath. He glanced towards Ryou to see the liger staring back at him.

They held one another’s gaze before Ryou bowed his head. In a flash of purple, he was gone and the door rose up to reveal a lion larger than all the others.

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification on pronouns, Pidge is a girl, Keith is a boy, and Blue is neither. However, their pronouns might be odd in certain parts as a result of different things. Blue shifts between male and female so so do their pronouns. Pidge is in disguise so in parts where the POV is focused on specific characters, her pronouns might be wrong as a result of them not knowing her gender and not because I -- nor anyone else -- am purposefully misgendering her.


End file.
